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Event: Of Blood and Honor Part 10
The closing of the first act, so to speak, follows below. This leads into Blood Harvest, setting the tone for some of the things to come. Of Blood and Honor Part 10: Culmination A light breeze blew in to the small port city of Monclava, gently gusting off the mesa in which the city had been built. Here, on the planet Ibera, the temperatures were warm and easy to live with. Draygan Strykia gazed out over the plains below Monclava, watching the sun set and the lights of the small agricultural stations activating with the coming darkness. It had been a couple months since he came to Ibera and it had been a very restful experience so far. “A man could really get use to this.” Draygan said, letting out a long sigh. “And you know that the offer still stands, Dray.” Came the melodious, accented voice of Vyktoria Inachez. Draygan turned to find the deep, brown eyes of Vyktoria watching him closely. He took in her beauty, returning her gaze. He had truly become smitten with her, just as Bronn had said. He loved her dark skin, brown eyes, and long dark hair. His stay on Ibera had given him the opportunity to actually court a woman for the first time in many years. Perhaps he would make their relationship official and ask her to be his betrothed. He hadn’t been betrothed to anyone before the Imperial Occupation began on Antrixies. His parents had followed his request to wait until he had finished his military training before attempting to saddle him with a family. Now, with twenty-some years gone, he was taking the time to explore a real relationship. It wasn’t that Draygan hadn’t had companionship before he came to Ibera. Mostly, he had tried to form relationships with a couple females that had been of noble blood and were present on the resistance fleet. But he always came away feeling like they viewed him more as a title and position. Perhaps they did see him as only the High Lord of the Commonwealth. He wanted what his mother and father had had; a true relationship built on love, respect, and family. Vyktoria Inachez had given him the option years ago, when his ship had made a stop on Ibera for supplies. She didn’t scrape and bow to him. If anything, she treated him as an equal. In a way, she way his equal. Vyktoria was the governess of Ibera. The small world was far enough off the major trade routes that it escaped the notice of the Imperials. The Imperials had given her little heed when she was chosen to govern her planet. As long as Ibera kept producing foodstuffs, they would continue to ignore Ibera. That meant that Vyktoria was free to run her planet as she chose. Draygan loved her because she was fair with an air of honor and honesty. But she held no love for the Empire. Her title may have been Imperial Governor, but she only did as much as was required in order to skirt under the notice of the Empire. If anything, Vyktoria had fostered a movement of growing dissent towards the Empire. That favored the Antrixian Resistance. “You want me all to your self.” Draygan said playfully. “You’re asking me, in essence, to be a kept man.” “I want you to be happy and at peace.” She responded as she walked to him and draped her arms over his shoulders. “You seem so relaxed here. This is not a way of life?” “Yes, it’s a great way to live.” Draygan responded by wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close to him. “But you know I have a weight bearing down on me that I’m going to have to eventually take care of.” “I do.” She said back. “And you know you have my support. You will have Ibera’s support.” “I know.” With that, Draygan gave Vyktoria a tender kiss. ---- “Dear Colonel, what a pleasure to see you.” General Orven Palter said in his haughty Core accent as Colonel Maxus Weyre entered the plush office on Manchi. “I came as soon as I received your orders, sir.” Weyre responded. “I was surprised to have Senator Tessanna Ghavanni meet me and usher me in, however.” “Yes. I needed an office to work out of for the time. Ghavanni needed a position to make her feel important in the meantime... Being my office assistant seems to fit her for now.” Palter said with a smile. “Have a seat, please.” Weyre took a seat in a chair across the desk from the General. The Colonel could only suspect what the summons to Manchi could be about. Still more of a shock was how up front and in the open Palter was being. Weyre knew that General Palter usually worked behind the scenes, often keeping himself hidden. Weyre admired him, though. Palter had the reputation that anyone operating in Imperial Intelligence could appreciate. Weyre considered him an artist and a master manipulator. Weyre knew that a command officer in Intelligence must be a gifted operative. But the position Palter held in the Destab branch meant that he was above a normal field operative. Palter was a man that could shred the culture of an entire group. It was also no secret that Palter was a man of the Emperor. Orven Palter was so pro-Human that even Humans from the Outer Rim needed to fear his schemes and plans. For Palter, there were only the Humans from the Core. There was little room for any chance of Human genetics being polluted by alien genes far away from the Core. There was biased and prejudice in the man. It drove him to be efficient. Weyre, in some way, admired that. “I’m sure you have heard that things are moving along with our plans on Antrixies.” Palter said once Weyre was comfortable. “I received a report that Inquisitor Danara had given birth to a male.” Weyre responded. “A male that is half Human, half Antrixian. Very interesting.” “An utter disappointment, Colonel.” Palter scowled. “A highly placed agent of the Empire has obviously consorted with the Enemy. It shows where this agent’s loyalty lie. However, Rhakyhl has forbid me from acting on it.” “Lord Rhakyhl himself?” Weyre asked. “Yes. The Emperor’s Eyes states that our plans with Lady Danara aren’t done yet. We will ignore the problem for now.” “So now what are we to do?” “I want you to hasten work on the Collector.” Palter answered. “Our plans here in the Manchi Sector must come to a completion. As it is, we are nearly over-stretched with this scheme of the clones on Antrixies. Rotex is our target, first and foremost. With the Rotronians taken care of, we can perhaps kill three squall-hawks with one stone.” “Three?” Weyre asked, interested in Palter’s thoughts. “I’m not aware of a third target for the Manchi operation.” “One of my sources has recently informed me that Lord Strykia has announced to his friends that he and his concubine are expecting. Apparently they had a bit of a party to celebrate it on that pathetic station they hide on.” “You’re referring to the Rotronian woman we’ve seen him with on Zamora?” Weyre asked. “Yes.” Palter answered. “An heir to the High Seat that is half Antrixian and Rotronian. Regardless if Danara’s spawn is Lord Strykia’s legitimate child, it undermines our attempts to play that child into our hands. This new child will cement interests of the Antrixian Rebellion in the Commonwealth and the Manchi Sector. The Rotronians will have outside help now.” “I will make sure that we are ready ahead of schedule.” Weyre said with determination. “See that you do, Colonel.” Palter sat back in his chair and pressed his hands together in front of his mouth. “One last thing, Colonel…” “Sir?” “Develop a plan to take Strykia out of the equation for a bit.” “Yes sir!” Continue on to Blood Harvest Category:Events